Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize — an international contemporary art competition with a $76,000 prize pool
If you work in a realistic or imaginative realism style, you can submit your work to the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize — an international art competition that brings together artists from around the world. Now in its ninth year, the prize supports artists working within the traditions of representational art, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and digital media.
The competition does not involve the acquisition of artworks and focuses on supporting artistic practice through cash prizes, international visibility and professional recognition. In addition to the prize fund, participants have the opportunity to present their work to an international audience, including gallery owners, collectors and art media editors.
What is meant by realistic art
The competition is aimed at artists working within the tradition of representational or realistic art. This means that the objects depicted remain recognisable — be it a figure, an object, a scene or a character.
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize accepts works across a wide range of artistic styles, including realism, hyperrealism, surrealism, pop surrealism, dark art and imaginative realism, provided that the work maintains a connection with the representational visual tradition.
A separate category of the competition is dedicated to imaginative realism — a movement that combines classical artistic techniques with fantastical, mythological or symbolic themes. Such works may depict imaginary worlds, characters or scenes while still being executed in a realistic manner.
Prize Fund
The total prize fund for the competition is $76,000 in cash awards and additional prizes.
The main awards include:
Grand Prize: $10,000 in cash + prizes
RAYMAR Painting Award: $6,000 + prizes
33PA Drawing Award: $4,500 + prizes
MPB Photography Award: $4,500 + prizes
INPRNT Digital Art Award: $4,500 + prizes
Sculpture Award: $4,500 + prizes
Catherine K. Gyllerstrom Award for Imaginative Realism: $5,000 + prizes
BearWolf Books Emerging Artist Award: $4,500 + prizes
People’s Choice Award (Art & Fable Puzzle Company): $1,000 + prizes — the winner is determined by a public vote, which begins in September.
The Grand Prize winner is selected by a jury from among entries in all categories.
Competition Categories
Artists may submit works in several categories: painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and digital art. A separate category, the Emerging Artist Award, is intended for artists at the start of their professional careers – those within their first five years of practice and not represented by a commercial gallery.
What are the benefits of entering the competition
In addition to the cash prize, the competition offers artists several key opportunities:
international exposure within the art community;
publication and promotion through Beautiful Bizarre Magazine;
attention from galleries, collectors and the media;
and the chance to compete for a prestigious international art award.
Even reaching the final stage of the competition can be a significant step in the development of one’s professional career.
Application requirements
To apply, please complete the online form and upload images of your work.
The application must include: the title of the work, materials and technique used, the dimensions of the work, a description of the work (up to 800 characters), a brief biography of the artist (up to 1,500 characters) and an image of the work.
Image size: up to 3 MB, minimum width — 1000 px.
If the work is a sculpture, you may upload a composite image showing the object from different angles.
An important condition of the competition is that works must not be created using generative AI.
The deadline for submissions is 17 July 2026.
A submission fee of $40 is required for each entry.
